The drafting of Iraq's constitution stumbled when Sunnis drafting the vital document boycotted a key meeting, as Al-Qaeda claimed the recent abduction of two Algerian diplomats in Baghdad. "None of the Sunni members of the committee attended the meeting," Ayad al-Samarrai, spokesman for the Islamic Party, a leading Sunni faction, told AFP. The 15 Sunni Arab members of the committee, most of whom were coopted on to the parliamentary committee, announced Thursday they would not attend meetings after two of their number were gunned down in the capital on Tuesday. While the Sunnis have demanded an international investigation into the killings, their withdrawal could raise questions about the constitution's legitimacy in the eyes of the disenchanted Sunni minority. That in turn could lead to the new constitution being turned down in a referendum scheduled for mid-October as rules stipulate it can be rejected if two-thirds of people vote against it in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces. Sunni Arabs form a majority in Al-Anbar, Salaheddin and Nineveh provinces.
The drafting of Iraq's constitution stumbled when Sunnis drafting the vital document boycotted a key meeting, as Al-Qaeda claimed the recent abduction of two Algerian diplomats in Baghdad.
"None of the Sunni members of the committee attended the meeting," Ayad al-Samarrai, spokesman for the Islamic Party, a leading Sunni faction, told AFP. The 15 Sunni Arab members of the committee, most of whom were coopted on to the parliamentary committee, announced Thursday they would not attend meetings after two of their number were gunned down in the capital on Tuesday.
While the Sunnis have demanded an international investigation into the killings, their withdrawal could raise questions about the constitution's legitimacy in the eyes of the disenchanted Sunni minority.
That in turn could lead to the new constitution being turned down in a referendum scheduled for mid-October as rules stipulate it can be rejected if two-thirds of people vote against it in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces.
Sunni Arabs form a majority in Al-Anbar, Salaheddin and Nineveh provinces.
Thank God we have been pouring billions in there, we should be able to fix it:
US diplomats have been "talking intensively with all the key players in the Iraqi constitutional negotiations," a senior US official told reporters Friday. They have urged them to be "flexible" and "realistic", while stressing "the tremendous importance" of meeting an August 15 deadline to complete the draft constitution.
US diplomats have been "talking intensively with all the key players in the Iraqi constitutional negotiations," a senior US official told reporters Friday.
They have urged them to be "flexible" and "realistic", while stressing "the tremendous importance" of meeting an August 15 deadline to complete the draft constitution.
We've been in Iraq for 856 days. Somebody do something.
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